Question

The factor which determines the activity of a heterogeneous catalyst is ___________

(a) Total surface area only

(b) The number of active sites per unit amount of catalyst only

(c) Method of preparation, prior treatment only

(d) Total surface area, number of active sites and method of preparation

I had been asked this question in an international level competition.

This question is from Catalysis topic in section Reaction Dynamics of Engineering Chemistry I

Answer 1

Right option is (d) Total surface area, number of active sites and method of preparation

To explain I would say: The factors which determine the activity of a heterogeneous catalyst are – Total surface area, the number of active sites per unit amount of catalyst and method of preparation, prior treatment.